All three kilos of Benjamin stands shivering in the wind as I take his photo on a cloudy Saturday afternoon. He smells the snacks I'm holding and puts on a brave face and takes what I offer him. It takes him almost thirty seconds to chew through a small piece of dog cookie then he looks up for more.

Someone left Benjamin in a park. They left his name tag on his collar but scratched out the phone number where I guess once upon a time they would've taken a call to inform them their dog was found. These days, not so much apparently.

Benjamin has been transferred to Speaking of Dogs Rescue so if you're interested in adopting him, you can get in touch with them through their website: Speaking of Dogs.

Lanny finds a stick, picks it up, shakes it, walks with it, quite happy until he sees a bigger stick. He drops the smaller stick beside the bigger one and looks at the two and then takes the bigger one. He shakes it, walks with it and he's quite happy until he sees an even bigger stick. He changes up sticks two more times until he's carrying around a plank.

Lanny's a bit of a puller on leash - nothing some good training can't change - but in the meanwhile, finding him a big log he can carry around might slow him down a bit.

The best way to check on the adoption status of this dog (and other dogs and cats and other small domestic animals) is to visit Toronto Animal Services adoption website or call 416 338 6668 for the Toronto Animal Services South shelter. If the dog is no longer on the TAS adoption website, it's probably because it's been adopted already.

Freebie was found abandoned, a 7 month old Shih Tzu. A napkin with the words "Free Dog" written on it was attached to him.

Outside, he walks beside me, avoids the puddles, hardly pulls at all. When I crouch down, he stands uncertain for a moment then comes over, tail wagging. I check out his face. There's some hair loss there - only makes him look even more forlorn. I'm guessing anyone who was willing to dump the little guy in the middle of winter probably wasn't too careful about feeding him anything healthy.

I move a few stray hairs out from in front of his eyes and he wags his tail even faster.

"Someone's going to sweep you up, take you home, and never let you go," I tell him.

The best way to check on the adoption status of this dog (and other dogs and cats and other small domestic animals) is to visit Toronto Animal Services adoption website or call 416 338 6668 for the Toronto Animal Services South shelter. If the dog is no longer on the TAS adoption website, it's probably because it's been adopted already.

Audi is on a mission and that mission is to carry the toy to safety and to occasionally stop to give it a really good chomping. He has no problem abandoning the mission, though, in exchange for treats bribery - a dog's got to have his priorities straight. I think he'll be lots of fun once he got into a stable, non-threatening environment and is shown/taught that no one really wants to steal away his slob covered toys.

Audi may be somewhat reactive to bigger dogs but he was quite friendly with the mid-sized and small dogs we walked by.

The best way to check on the adoption status of this dog (and other dogs and cats and other small domestic animals) is to visit Toronto Animal Services adoption website or call 416 338 6668 for the Toronto Animal Services South shelter. If the dog is no longer on the TAS adoption website, it's probably because it's been adopted already.

The best way to check on the adoption status of this dog (and other dogs and cats and other small domestic animals) is to visit Toronto Animal Services adoption website or call 416 338 6668 for the Toronto Animal Services South shelter. If the dog is no longer on the TAS adoption website, it's probably because it's been adopted already.

Kayla is a big, sweet girl who’s been at the shelter for a while. She’s listed as a Lab cross, but there may be some Shepherd or Border Collie in the mix as well.

Like many high-energy dogs Kayla sometimes doesn’t present well in the cage. She may jump and bark, especially at people she doesn’t know. Once past her initial excitement of getting out of the cage, however, you see her for what she is: a people dog with a ton of potential. If you can keep up with her, that is.

Once she warms up to you, Kayla is your best friend, especially if you have a tennis ball. She will play all day but likes to break up her game of fetch with a few quick belly rubs. Kayla is very smart, food-motivated and is learning to work for treats, picking up the basics (sit, down, come) quickly. By all accounts she gets along well with other dogs at the shelter.
Kayla pulls some on her walks, but is learning not to lunge and is getting better with practice. The further she goes, the more she calms down. With longer, more frequent walks and more training she will improve quickly.

Here’s the thing about Kayla. She’s ‘a lot of dog’. She’s probably not a fit for the first time dog owner or for someone with small children. For an active owner with experience who’s willing to put in the time, though, she could be a real gem – she is smart, loving and up for anything. And if you already have one high-energy dog and are looking for a companion, she might be perfect.

The best way to check on the adoption status of Kayla (and other dogs and cats and other small domestic animals) is to visit Toronto Animal Services adoption website or call (416) 338-6271 for the Toronto Animal Services West shelter. If Kayla is no longer on the TAS adoption website, it's probably because she's been adopted already.

A request

The reason for this blog is to help get specific dogs adopted from TAS but equally important is to try to normalize the idea of shelter dogs being just as good and just as desirable as any other dogs including those which are regularly merchandised by backyard breeders, puppy millers and those few remaining pet store owners who still feel a need to sell live animals. The single greatest stigma shelter animals still face is the belief that shelter animals are substandard animals. Anyone who has had enough experience with shelter animals knows this is untrue but the general public hasn't had the same experiences you've had. They see a nice dog photo in a glossy magazine and too many of them would never think of associating that dog with a dog from a shelter. After all, no one abandons perfectly good dogs, right? Unfortunately, as we all know, perfectly good dogs are abandoned all the time.

The public still too often associates shelter dogs with images of beat up, sick, dirty, severely traumatized animals and while we definitely sometimes see victims such as these, they are certainly not the majority and, regardless, even the most abused animals can very often be saved and made whole again.

Pound Dogs sometimes discusses the sad histories some of the dogs have suffered. For the most part, though, it tries to present the dogs not as victims but as great potential family members. The goal is to raise the profiles of animals in adoption centers so that a potential pet owner sees them as the best choice, not just as the charity choice.

So, here's the favour I'm asking. Whenever you see a dog picture on these pages you think is decent enough, I'd like you to consider sharing it on Facebook or any other social media sites you're using (I know many of you do this already and thank you for that). And when you share it, please mention that the dog in the photo is a shelter dog like so many other shelter dogs waiting for a home. If we can get even five percent of the pet buying public to see shelter dogs differently, to see how beautiful they are and how wonderful they are, and to consider shelter dogs as their first choice for a new family member, we can end the suffering of homeless pets in this country.-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------